That's never happened before

but it seems like it should of.

Saturday of the Memorial day weekend I spent brewing my Whiskey Barrel Stout.
First off I discovered that the oak chips are added during the fermentation stage, cause I really wasn't sure when they would be added.  I read something about adjuncts in beer that gave the distinct impression that this one is going to sit in the secondary fermenter for at least 3 weeks.  The longer it sits the more of a whiskey taste I will get. 

In the same book, "The Joy of Home Brewing", I was reading up on whole grain brewing when I read something interesting.  In the beginning there is grain.  (Most kits are partial grain partial extract.)  This grain behaves way differently in different conditions while attempting to leach all the sugars and enzymes from it.  Bases on what I read if I lower the temperature at which I am steeping the grains I will get a better alcohol content with a lighter body.  Since this is supposed to taste like whiskey anyway I would assume that higher alcohol content would be a good thing. 

While steeping the grains the enzymes in the grains are working to convert germ in the grain to the usable sugars and nutrients that would be needed for germination, if I wasn't about to boil the hell out of it.  The longer I let it sit at the lower temperature the more ferment able sugars will be produced and there by the higher the proof of the beer will be.

So taking this knowledge I keep the temp lower while I was steeping the grains in this kit.  I usually try to keep things about 150 F but almost always get over 160 F.  I kept the temp down to 130 F this time around although actual temp was probably closer to 135 F, I didn't keep the thermometer in the wort long enough to for it to stop moving totally but it was slowing way down by 130 F.

Now that it has been in the fermenter for 5 days the bulk of fermenting is over and something happened that was different.  The fermentation was so strong at points that I wound up with beer yeast blow off in my air lock.  This has never happened to me before, but given what I remember from the few brewery tours I have taken it suddenly seems strange that it has never happened before.  From the few brewery tours I have taken I have seen many a fermenter bubbling out foam and undissolved yeast along with the CO2 by product of fermentation. 

I would like to say that this change to something that more mimics what I have seen in bigger commercial breweries is a sign that I did right by lowering the temperature, but for late May in Michigan it has been shockingly hot, I already have had my first sun burn of the year, so the exceptional temperature of my apartment may also be playing a role in the fermentation.

P.S.  Michigan is not back to normal for this time of the year.  It is 70 during the day, 40 at night, and overcast and raining.